How can you know God’s will?
How can you know His character?
Can you trust His heart?
In this message, Pastor Jamie explores the character of God as revealed through the Son. The earthly life of the Son is an invitation for believers to walk with God.
God is a Son. The Word became a Son.
Three Things God Showed Us By Being a Son:
1) The Son shows us what God is like.
John 14:8-9 “Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?”
a. Jesus revealed the Father’s will.
John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.”
If you want to know what God wants, look at what Jesus did.
b. Jesus revealed the Father’s heart.
Matthew 9:35-36 “Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
You won’t understand the Father’s will until you understand the Father’s heart.
2) The Son shows us who we can be.
John 14:12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.
a. Jesus modeled how to interact with the Father.
John 5:16-20 “So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God. So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished.”
God wants us to do what He says because we want to, not because we have to. Your relationship with God is an invitation, not coercion. He’s looking for a partner in care.
b. Jesus modeled how to interact with others.
Luke 14:12-14 “Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”
Jesus is our example. We love as He loves, by doing as He does.
You can’t love someone in secret or in theory. Love unexpressed is not love because love does something.
3) The Son provides access to the Father.
a. Jesus is our gate.
John 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
b. Jesus is our guide.
Luke 16:16 “Until John the Baptist, the law of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is eager to get in.”
Have you let God the Son teach you who GOD IS?